Otis a 4 year old ferret . Domestic ferrets are illegal in California, one of only two states to ban them. New legislation will give amnesty to the more than 100k ferrets living here illegally while a study is conducted to see what impact of legalization might be on state ecosystems.Photo By Kurt Rogers

The little carpet sharks, a mask-faced cousin of the weasel, have been illegal in California since 1933, but more than 100,000 of the furry Slinkies have been smuggled across the border by devoted owners.

For nearly a decade, the Legislature has grappled with legalizing the critters, always in the face of opposition from state agencies that worry wild ferrets could damage some of California's most sensitive ecosystems.

Of the seven attempts since 1994 to legalize domestic ferrets, none has passed the Legislature.

Now one lawmaker thinks she may have the answer, or at least a compromise --

amnesty.

"I've never seen a ferret, but we need to resolve this issue once and for all," said the amnesty bill's author, Sen. Dede Alpert, D-Coronado.

"I realize when we have a $21 billion budget problem this doesn't seem terribly significant, but it's important to ferret owners, and it's an issue we should have final resolution on," Alpert said.

Alpert's plan is to make every pet ferret in California legal if it has been vaccinated for rabies, neutered or spayed, and registered, and if it has a microchip implanted for tracking -- in case it escapes.

Importing ferrets would still be illegal until completion of a study by the University of California in 2005 on the environmental impact of full ferret legalization.

Pet ferrets are legal in every other state, except Hawaii. The sleek carnivores weigh up to 5 pounds and are more than a foot long, making them bigger than weasels.

Their Latin name means "little thief."

Aristotle wrote of a tame weasel-like creature, but the real jump in ferret ownership began in the 1970s.

ACCORDION RATS ARE A HOOT

Part of the attraction is the animal's impish personality. They're not unlike frisky kittens that never grow into cats. They have been likened to sock puppets with legs.

"They're little clowns. Very intelligent. They always look for the best in life, which I think is their main appeal," said ferret owner Pat Wright, a Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor in November whose ballot designation was "ferret legalization coordinator."

POLECATS IN CYBERSPACE

California-specific Web sites include the Golden State Ferret Society, the Northern California Ferret Newsletter and the Bay Area Legion of Superferrets, which sells a "My Ferret Is Smarter Than Your Honor Roll Student" bumper sticker.

One site, Ferrets Anonymous, offers maps and advice on how to avoid California agricultural checkpoints and safely smuggle ferrets across the border.

The state's long-standing position, which on the last amnesty bill was shared by the Audubon Society, is that domestic ferrets will escape, go feral and threaten ground-nesting birds and small mammals like quail, waterfowl and rabbits.

FERRET OWNERS SCOFF

A domesticated ferret, owners respond, wouldn't stand a chance in the wild. Rather than being a despoiler of bird nests, a house ferret would more likely end up in a coyote's gullet or that of some other larger predator.

State biologists acknowledge that, for the most part, quick death would be the fate of escaped domestic ferrets. But they say it's better to be safe than sorry.

"You're playing with fire when you bring in species from other areas. You can't predict ahead of time what's going to be a problem," said Ron Jurek, a Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist. "The potential is there to be a problem to wildlife in parts of California."

Regardless of their legal status, the playful creatures have already spawned plenty of mischief in the California Legislature.

Each year from 1994 through 1999, a bill was introduced attempting some form of ferret legalization. All failed.

Former Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith, R-Poway, who failed in two attempts to legalize ferrets during the mid-1990s, became the butt of one of then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown's oft-quoted quips.

After an unsuccessful vote on a ferret bill, Brown announced from the rostrum that the measure was as "dead as that ferret on Goldsmith's head," referring to what Brown believed was a toupee.

SERIOUS BUSINESS

But to ferret fanciers, legalization is nothing to laugh at.

Nearly every ferret Web site has a section devoted to legalization. One even features a "California Ferret Freedom Anthem," sung to the tune of "Onward Christian Soldiers."

The most comprehensive site is Californians for Ferret Legalization, which features a caricature of a ferret in jailhouse stripes in the upper-right-hand corner.

"We're not here to promote ownership, we're here to promote legalization. We're for anything that will allow good people not to be criminalized further, " said Jeanne Carley of Woodside, who runs the group but says she doesn't own any ferrets.

Carley says Alpert's amnesty bill isn't the answer, but the study authorized by the bill should be.

Under the bill, within two months of the completion of the environmental study, the Fish and Game Commission must vote up or down on legalization.

"Forcing the commission to look at the issue and hopefully delisting ferrets should solve the problem," Carley said. "If they're at all objective, that's what they'll do."

The commission, which has final say on legalization, held a hearing in April 2000 on freeing ferrets, but told ferret advocates they had to foot the hefty bill for an environmental impact report. No thanks, said the ferret folk.

Alpert's bill would use ferret registration fees to pay for the report.

Even if the ferret folk finally get a bill through the Legislature, it's unclear whether Gov. Gray Davis would sign it. A spokesman says he has no position on ferret legalization.

"We're concentrating on the budget right now," said Steve Maviglio, press secretary to the Democratic governor.

FERRET FACTS

The domestic ferret comes from the family Mustelidae, whose 67 species include weasels, badgers, otters and skunks. A male ferret is called a "hob," a female a "jill" and a juvenile is a "kit." A group is commonly called a "business of ferrets."

-- Weight: 1 to 5\307 pounds. -- Length (adult): 17 to 24 inches. -- Males are about twice as large as females.